Christmas dinner

The Saturday before Christmas was Cousin Holly's birthday. The San Antonio Coopers were kind enough to drive up to Austin so that we could celebrate with them. We met at Wazoo's and let the kids play for a while there. I tried so hard to get some pictures, but none of them worked out.
Here's what I got:

 And also a picture of another kid because I thought it was Emily coming down the slide next. I won't post that one though.

And here are Joseph and Elinor:

Emily got this one of Caleb but she had an advantage because grown ups weren't allowed on the inflatables.

Then Caleb got the camera for a little while. Here are some of his awesome, very flattering shots:

 I love the kid angle.

Anyway, after Wazoo's was McDonald's and birthday cake and presents, which was fun; then Trail of Lights which was not fun so we will not talk about that anymore.

On Thursday the 27th we went to the SA Cooper's house for Christmas dinner and presents and stuff. It's always a treat to go visit them because Sue puts together amazing meals, even with a severed thumb tendon. And also because we like to hang out with them.

Here are some of the kids at the kid table. Emily was upset about being put with the little kids and having to use plastic dishes.

Here are Mary and Joseph looking for an inn to stay in. I said no.

 And here they are all gathered around the sleeping baby Jesus/Jacob.

This little Elinor is cah-razy! This was all I could get from her when I asked her to smile.

 Oh, Christmas. I love it. I love that we are establishing some solid family traditions. I love that it gives the kids a chance to think about others. I love the excitement of Christmas morning and the fun throughout the rest of the day. I love the chance it gives us to think about the Savior and His birth and example. We are so blessed.

Christmas

Christmas Day itself was everything it should have been.
All the kids were up an hour earlier than Joseph and I were willing to get everything started.
Caleb and Elinor drifted back to sleep, but Emily sang in her bed the whole time, waiting patiently. We finally went in and let Emily open her stocking which woke the other two mobile kids. Stockings provided enough excitement for the early morning hours while Joseph and I (mostly Joseph) prepared a breakfast of crepes and fruit.
After breakfast the real excitement began.

Emily of course loves all things girly.

Our wackiest kid got a pretty wacky little instrument. It's been a hit with all of them.

This is one of Caleb's favorite games to play.
He loves to dress up as a "workerman"
(like the guys behind him)...

So this toolbox was perfect for him.

Baby Jacob got a few little gifts. We'll probably wrap them up again for his first birthday.

Elinor immediately took possession of this
cool little sea serpent pull toy.
We have since reclaimed it.

A picture of our Christmas chaos.

Yet more Christmas chaos.

Joseph gifted me a (much appreciated) Christmas nap.
This is how the kids stayed occupied while I was out:

Em put together a mini stage and puppet show.

Caleb staged a peanutbutter battle.

And also masqueraded as an angry knight. The sword was the present Emily chose for him this year. She also made him the shield out of thick cardboard and duct tape for handles. I traced and cut the shape under her close supervision. The CTR shield shape was all I knew so we went with it. Em drew the dragon upside-down, but none of the kids have noticed yet. Caleb just always holds the shield upside-down and fights left handed.

After I woke up and rejoined the family, the kids spent some time riding bikes with their new helmets and bells.
Joseph made our traditional Christmas nacho platter for a fun picnic dinner in the living room while we watched Brave. It was sort of Caleb's dream come true.

Our real Christmas dinner came a couple of nights later when we met up with the SA Coopers.

It was such a fun, laid back Christmas. I love my husband and all of these little kiddos.

Christmas Eve

Christmas this year was so nice.
We spent it at home with just our little family. Everything was done at our own pace and in the comfort of our own home.
Christmas Eve night we finished our little advent nativity scene. The kids have loved adding to this picture throughout December.

We also finished our scripture reading advent pouches and did a simple reenactment of the Christmas story.

 I read How the Grinch Stole Christmas and another Christmas book (Room for a Little One) to the kids and they all listened! They are growing up.

We each opened a Christmas Eve present of pajama pants. These were not quite as successful as last year's, but more on that later.

Miss Emily made a red nose so she could be Rudolph after they watched the classic Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer movie. I love that girl and her crazy creativity!

Phone Pics

We've been really busy lately, but we've been makin' out alright.

 We've been workin' out.

We've been rockin' out.

We've been lookin' out for each other.

Elinor and Emily take special care of mama.

As for myself, I've been working hard to finish my research and get a job.  But I pass this door every day.  So far, I've resisted temptation.

I had the opportunity to go to Rennes, France and present some of my research.  It was relatively well-received.  The conference organizers insisted on exposing us to a little bit of culture.  They took us to Mont Saint-Michel to see the amazing monastery built on a big rock surrounded by the tides. 

It was marvelous.  I wish I could see how it looked with a full complement of monks, pilgrims, and visiting nobles. 

 According to the stories, the Archangel had to get in the bishop of Avranches' face to convince him to build the thing.  But once they got it rolling, they made it pretty cool.

I was particularly glad to meet up with these two guys.  Two professors whose research I admire.  Dr. Zordan, on the left, gave me some great pointers on my research.  Dr. Shapiro, right, was friendly and outgoing as well as incredibly bright.  He gave me a lot of encouragement.

I thought it would be cold.  I packed too much winter weight gear.  But I got around the public transport just fine and now know the French phrase for "next stop" very well.  It was a good trip.

Drinking his sorrows away

It is impossible for us to keep any milk in the fridge if the gallon is less than half full.
He is definitely Joseph's son.

Christmas is Coming!

Christmas preparations are in full swing!
This is sort of related, but I got to do a little 5k along the trail of lights last Saturday and it was pretty awesome. Definitely not a course for a PR (too many people, narrow trail, super dark), but it was super fun! I also ran 3 miles that morning just to make sure my legs were in working order and I jogged a couple of miles to and from the race, so it was a runny sort of day, but it was really fun. And I might have left my bib at home in all the craziness of leaving on time, but that didn't matter because with 8,000 other people no one noticed that I didn't have a number.
This is totally not related, but I was also able to run an 8k on Thanksgiving, which was really fun. There were 23,000 people registered for that race, and that was crazy! I'm excited to be getting back into running though, and I'm planning to do a 25K trail run in April. We'll see if I survive that.

Anyway, the decorations are up, and Emily is in heaven. Here is a little corner of our living room.

The rest of the room is even better... I just couldn't find any other pictures.
Joseph and I were discussing our tree tonight though, and I've decided it's really kiddy. I wonder if it will grow up as the kids get older.

I decided to make some bags as Christmas gifts this year. I received the fabric on the 17th (and it's awesome!).

It's a cotton-linen blend fabric by Echino. It's a little crazy, but bags can be crazy, right? Caleb took the picture, by the way.
I was up way too late on Monday night, putting the bags together. Let me just tell you, 6 straight hours of Disney channel is just too much. Why didn't I just put a movie on? I was excited to have the packages out in the mail by Tuesday, so hopefully they will arrive by Christmas.

Joseph doesn't like gingerbread, so he puts together a sugar cookie house every Christmas. We did this for Family Home Evening on Monday and Tuesday (Em's 7:00 bedtime makes FHE pretty tricky).

Here they are hard at work. Do you see Elinor's little face down there?

The finished product.

Joseph's paisley wall. I mostly used this picture because of Elinor's face.

Caleb's turn.

I like this picture because it makes our family look so calm and under control.

And here is a picture of Joseph as SuperDad and of Caleb ready to swing. Doesn't he look so natural with a plastic baseball bat over his shoulder? The real reason I posted this picture is to show you our weather. It was hot today! I was feeling a little uncomfortable today and even considered turning the AC on! Whenever I left the door opened wasps would fly in but isn't it the end of December? Why are they still around? Why was it 82 degrees today?

Anyway, we do love Christmas. We have been trying to talk to the kids - especially Emily - about the reason we have Christmas and how giving gifts and service can bring a special kind of joy that receiving presents doesn't. It's a special time of year, and I am loving being able to spend it with my little family!

Look for the Helpers

I have been trying to center myself this Christmas season. Between chasing kids, trying to fulfill church callings, and staying sane with personal projects, I have had a hard time finding time for peaceful contemplation this month. Hearing about the shooting on Friday really shook me up. To learn that it had taken place at an elementary school, with such young victims, horrified me. It made me feel physically sick to read those headlines.
I loved this quote that I read on DesignMom this morning.

“When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’ To this day, especially in times of ‘disaster,’ I remember my mother’s words and I am always comforted by realizing that there are still so many helpers – so many caring people in this world.”  —Fred Rogers

What a perfect sentiment for this and any difficult time.

Snippets.

Jacob had his well-child check today and his height is off the charts. That's right. It was plotted way off the curve, above the little grid, out in space. Off the charts.

Elinor's favorite curse of late is "aww, grapes." I love it.

Emily has farmer dishes because she is way too old for plastic.

the three-year-old boy

 Little boys. 
I still have a lot to learn about handling them.
Let me tell you some of the latest stories starring Caleb.

Story number one:
While Jacob was still very young, we had a very rough night. I was in bed trying to catch up on lost sleep when Joseph came in to kiss me goodbye. I assured him I would be up in a couple of minutes to take care of Caleb and Elinor, who were out in the living room. The next thing I know, I am waking to a neighbor's voice in our house saying, "So, where did you say you mom is?" I jumped out of bed to find that she had pulled them out of the van, where they had been playing. Here's the whole story. As soon as Joseph left, Caleb put on shoes and socks and helped Elinor with hers. He pulled the car keys down off the hook and another set for Elinor so she wouldn't feel left out, and they went outside. They crossed the street ever so carefully (holding hands) and went to the new van. Caleb managed to open the door and he sat in the driver's seat and Elinor sat in the passenger seat. While Elinor worked on buckling up (safety first!) Caleb put the keys in the ignition, started the engine, and pushed every button and pulled every lever he could find. I am so grateful for the safety feature requiring the brake pedal to be depressed while putting the car in gear. He told me later that he had tried to push the pedals but couldn't reach them.
Our neighbor, Shauna, had gotten home and noticed the kids in the car and thought it was weird, but assumed I had it under control. She went inside, then realized her phone was still in the car. She went back out to get it and decided then that Caleb and Elinor were not supposed to be in the car like that. I am so grateful for good neighbors!

Story number two:
My friend Cassie and I were outside chatting when we noticed the boys had been very quiet for a while, which is unusual for them. She has two boys, aged 3 and 5, who Caleb plays/wrestles/schemes with. After calling for a while we started to get nervous so we split up. No luck. We ended up back where we had started still minus three little boys. Finally, we found them coming down the stairs from our good friend's apartment. They later told us that Caleb had led them in. No one was home, so they had played with some toys for a while until they noticed they were baby toys. Then Caleb went to work on the computer while the other younger boy went to check out the DVDs and the older boy looked into heading back outside. That was when they realized the door was sticky and they couldn't open it! They each took a couple of turns trying, and then, the oldest boy reported, they decided to try some teamwork. It took all three of them sixteen pulls to get that door open!

Story number three:
Caleb came into my bedroom very upset one morning. He told me he had had a very scary dream. I asked him if he wanted to tell me about it and he proceeded to tell me about one crazy nightmare. In this dreamworld, a turtle was chasing him (when Emily heard this, she exclaimed, "a turtle?!! But turtles are so slow!") and he couldn't get away. Then the turtle bumped him into an elevator and pushed the button and sent him to somewhere he didn't want to go.
I am so interested to know what else goes on in the mind of that boy.


Needless to say, Caleb gets into his share of mischief and spends a lot of time dealing with the consequences of those escapades. He definitely keeps us laughing (in these cases, it's in private, where he can't hear us!). He does have a good heart though, and I do love my boy.